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‘Ay yo, check this out! Tonight we got two crazy motha fuckas straight outta GAINAX ready to show us what they can do. First up we got the veteran Fast Action Man, the legendary director and key animator of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, my nigga Imaishi Hiroyuki! Then after that, we got one of the newer heads on the block, the master of the Hard Looking Mothafuckas, give it up for Amemiya Akira! This shit’s gunna be sick, so I’mma step offstage while DJ Digiboy lays down a beat and Imaishi takes it away. LET’S GO!

Here’s what’chu gotta do – for each animator, start by watching the video that shows you what their style is all about, then listen to the audio clip where they break it down!

Hiroyuki Imaishi

Yo, my flow is never static
‘Cause my style is erratic
And fanatics get ecstatic
When they see what i got cookin’ in the attick
‘Cause my mind is systematic
In creating my visual acrobatics

Your style seems dramatic
Like you think it’s cinematic
But the truth is that your flow chokes like a fuckin’ asthmatic
I’ve had it
Bust your style with my semi-automatic

That’s right I like guns
And makin’ characters run
And you know when I’m in charge
You’ll be seein’ something fun

GAINAX wouldn’t be the same without me
They never leave me out because I know they never doubt me
My fans and followers keep track of my series devoutly
So you should think twice ‘fo’ you fuckin’ try to out me
Bitch.

Akira Amemiya

Akira Amemiya in tha house
I like my robots lookin’ like they gunna take you out
So many tone layers even Otaking is proud
Take your single-color shit and GET THE FUCK OUT!

When I draw Gurren Lagann you know that nigga go hard
‘Cause he’s ready to attack with his crazy drill arm
And when I’m handlin’ the scene you’re gunna know what’s goin’ on
‘Cause I keep my shit fluid n’ let you see what I’ve drawn

Imaishi skips frames like he’s playin’ hop-scotch
Like he’s trying to draw after a few bottles of scotch
And it ain’t no surprise when the shit is a mess
Then he tries to play it off as if we should be impressed
Well fuck that

I may be new but I got style in spades
My scenes have kept my fans rewatching for days
It’s just a matter of time before I start to get paid
An’ take ova’ the role GAINAX won’t even want you to play

You heard it here folks – Hiroyuki Imaishi and Akira Amemiya just laid it all out for you, so now it’s your turn to decide – who’s style do you like best? The intense and spastic fast action of Imaishi, or the firm and furious hard looks of Amemiya? Leave your thoughts in the comments thread! This is MC DB signing off!

I’m definitely Hiroyuki Imaishi. Akira Amemiya has some nice animated sequences but too many of them are just flyin background + cool pose. The speedy style of Imaishi’s infuses the show with more energy and is more typically Gainax imo.

Indeed – and a large part of why it is typically GAINAX is that Imaishi is so heavily involved in GAINAX’s productions, hehe. This battle was sold before it started for me because Imaishi is my favorite key animator of all time, though he does have some competition outside of GAINAX… which there will be posts about at some point~